Where should employee wellbeing sit in a C-suite executive’s list of priorities? For Bill Michael, chairman of accountancy giant KPMG, this year was the moment to tackle the subject head on.
Addressing 1,500 staff on a Zoom call in January, Michael was widely reported as telling them to “stop playing the victim card” and “moaning” about their current working conditions. He added that the concept of unconscious bias had been, for him, “complete and utter crap for years”.
Even before the end of the call to KPMG’s financial services team, Michael acknowledged he had gone too far with his comments. Those in the virtual town hall said he had also told struggling employees how to reach out for help. But the damage was done and Michael resigned a few days later.